mgoblog - big ten coaching hires are often dumbhttp://mgoblog.com/taxonomy/term/16207/0
enThis Week's Obsession: B1G Xhttp://mgoblog.com/content/weeks-obsession-b1g-x
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/n7alr77.jpg"><img title="n7alr77" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="n7alr77" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/n7alr77_thumb.jpg" width="564" height="267" /></a></p>
<p align="center"><em><font size="2">That episode where Mr. Burns had to go work for Smithers. I'm sure there is one.</font></em>&#160;</p>
<p>The Big Ten Championship Game and bowl selection gives us an opportunity to zoom out a little.</p>
<blockquote><p>Who's on the up, how do next year's divisions stack up against each other for the short and long term, and what's the long term outlook for the Big Ten on a national scale (and do you care?)</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Mathlete: </strong>With Michigan State's title and several preceding years of quality, they have moved into that 1B tier. Ohio State is the only team right now I would consider in the top tier. They have both the recruiting and the on field to be clearly at the top.<br />
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<td><font size="2" face="Calibri">I wonder what Coach Dantonio thinks about &quot;1B&quot; status. He probably has a measured, mature response that acknowledges his schedule was kind of easy and his recruiting is lacking. [Fuller]</font></td>
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<p>Joining the Spartans in 1B I would put Wisconsin. Behind them you have the good but definitely behind the top teams group. Unfortunately right now that includes Michigan along with Nebraska, Iowa. In the third group you have the chaos teams. Northwestern, Indiana, Minnesota (how did that happen), Penn State and probably Maryland are teams that had a pretty decent year last year despite another rash of injuries. That leaves Purdue, Illinois and Rutgers at the bottom tier.</p>
<p>So if you look at the divisions you have the East with 2 first tiers and 1 second tier team. The West would have 1 first tier and 2 second tier teams. The caveat is that the East's second tier team, Michigan, has been recruiting like a first tier and will finally have a large amount of acclaimed talent in the upper classes. If Michigan can move up to tier one, then the East is considerably more challenging. </p>
<p>On a national scale it's hard to see the Big Ten join the top as a group. The two paths up are recruiting and coaching and right now there is a pretty big gap between the Big Ten and the best in both. If Michigan can start playing like it's recruiting, and 1-2 teams of Michigan St/Wisconsin/Nebraska/Iowa can play at the top level each year, then that should help the profile of the conference. Three+ really good teams means you move out of ACC territory and get to where a conference champ would be in a position for 2 high quality wins. Ultimately, that's the blueprint for the Big Ten at the top as a conference, 3 high quality teams, 2 high quality wins. Without a foundational shift, the full depth isn't going to match up. But if the top 3 can, the conversation should die down.</p>
<p><strong>[Just Jump.]</strong></p>
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<p align="left"><strong>BiSB: </strong>These things are always fluid, but it's pretty clear that holy crap the West is bad. If you line the divisions top to bottom and played them Big Ten/ACC Challenge style, the East probably wins, what, 5 of the 7 games? Maybe 6? It's easy to second-guess, but it looks like they should have put Indiana in the West and Purdue in the East.<br />
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<td><font size="2" face="Calibri">Indiana this year looked a lot like how people remember the 2010 Michigan team, except with lower lows than the Denard-Tate offense achieved and without that half-season of only being rather bad to its credit. [Fuller]</font></td>
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<p>The East is going to be a bloodbath for the foreseeable future. Obviously Ohio State is primed for continued success. If Michigan ever stops the Benjamin Button act and actually gets older, they have as much talent as any team in the conference. And Michigan State, alas, isn't going anywhere. And with the easing of the sanctions on Penn State, they might emerge from the depths sooner than anticipated. If the East was representative of the conference as a whole, the B1G would probably be seen as in that tier below the SEC along with the PAC 12. Instead, with the Tim Beckman-shaped anchor attached to its ankle, the B1G is somewhere between the Big 12 and the ACC. Any hope of the B1G challenging the top conferences in public perception (hurray, pointless ESPN First Take topic victories...) relies on Michigan becoming This is Michigan again and Penn State weathering the storm somewhat intact.</p>
<p>Any hope for the West being on par with the East relied on Northwestern emerging as a potential third power along with Wisconsin and Nebraska. And while the Fightin' Fitzgeraldses were astoundingly snakebitten this year, this year showed that Northwestern will probably remain an occasional contender at best. Nebraska is dysfunctional from the top down, and prospects of life after Taylor Martinez aren't particularly shiny. Iowa and Minnesota have solid ceilings, and Illinois and Purdue... yeah.</p>
<p>Long term, the East is pre-revolutionary France. Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State are the bourgeois, and Maryland, Rutgers, and Indiana are the proletariat. Penn State is the only wild card, but long term they'll probably end up suggesting Rutgers eat cake. The West is a little less fluid, with the annual Who Will Challenge Wisconsin coming from the group of Iowa, Nebraska, and Northwestern, any of whom could lose 6 conference games in any season.</p>
<p align="center">------------------------------------</p>
<p><strong>Ace: </strong>The Mathlete and BiSB have covered everything except the very last bit—do we care about the Big Ten's long term national outlook? To a certain extent, the obvious answer is 'yes'. A better conference reputation means a better chance of making the CoFoPoff™, better recruiting, and—perhaps the most overlooked and underrated aspect—better football to watch on Saturdays; I'm getting pretty tired of flipping to random Big Ten game, saying &quot;why would I do this to myself?&quot; and flipping to CBS.</p>
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<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Calibri">(=)</font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="2" face="Calibri">/emoticon'd</font></p>
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<p>On the other hand, the playoff allows for a little more leeway in terms of national title aspirations. As long as the Big Ten remains somewhere in that murky second tier (the SEC being the first tier) with the Pac-12, Big 12, and ACC, any undefeated conference champ is going to make the playoff, and more often than not a strong one-loss champ will, too. The conference, by historical standards, has pretty much bottomed out and that's essentially the position they're in right now—Ohio State would've made the BCS title game if they'd defeated MSU, and the last one-loss conference champion (2006 OSU) made it.</p>
<p>In that sense, I don't really care; as long as the Big Ten doesn't deteriorate further—with Michigan expected to bounce back and Penn State potentially coming off sanctions early, this would surprise—then they're going to be fine from a national standpoint; the conference will produce a contender every year, make the playoff more often than not, and unless we're expecting to be on par with the SEC that's pretty good.</p>
<p align="center">------------------------------------</p>
<p><strong>Seth: </strong>A thousand dear diaries ago I made a grading system based on national FEI ranking, giving out letter grades (letters every ten, +s and -s every five), and then did the same for the recruiting classes. Using a composite of the last three (2012-2014 classes) 247's rankings, we try that again:</p>
<table cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<th colspan="4">West</th>
<th>|</th>
<th colspan="4">East</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<th>School</th>
<th>FEI Rk</th>
<th>Grade</th>
<th>247 Cp</th>
<th>|</th>
<th>School</th>
<th>FEI Rk</th>
<th>Grade</th>
<th>247 Cp</th>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Wisconsin</td>
<td>13</td>
<td>A</td>
<td>C+</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Ohio State</td>
<td>8</td>
<td>A</td>
<td>A+</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Iowa</td>
<td>30</td>
<td>B</td>
<td>C</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Michigan State</td>
<td>9</td>
<td>A</td>
<td>B</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Minnesota</td>
<td>49</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>D+</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Michigan</td>
<td>29</td>
<td>B</td>
<td>A+</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Nebraska</td>
<td>51</td>
<td>C</td>
<td>B</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Indiana</td>
<td>62</td>
<td>D+</td>
<td>C</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Northwestern</td>
<td>60</td>
<td>C-</td>
<td>C</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Penn State</td>
<td>65</td>
<td>D+</td>
<td>B</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Illinois</td>
<td>75</td>
<td>D</td>
<td>C-</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Maryland</td>
<td>74</td>
<td>D</td>
<td>C+</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Purdue</td>
<td>114</td>
<td>F</td>
<td>C-</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>Rutgers</td>
<td>98</td>
<td>E-</td>
<td>B-</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>AVG</td>
<td>56</td>
<td>2.0</td>
<td>2.0</td>
<th>|</th>
<td>AVG</td>
<td>49th</td>
<td>2.1</td>
<td>3.0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>In that 247 composite Ohio State was second in the country and Michigan was fourth; the next Big Ten teams were outside the top 25, FWIW. Michigan's &quot;B&quot; grade is the result of some high variance.</p>
<p>That's about how I feel: a conference baseline of &quot;C&quot; (ie ranked around 50th) teams with one division recruiting at a &quot;B&quot; level and the other &quot;getting the most out of&quot; C level recruiting.</p>
<p>Feelingsball West: A bunch of those schools have established they can field very good teams under their current coaches with Michigan State-level recruiting. Wisconsin don't care. I don't trust Minnesota's resurgence or Iowa's; both of those programs probably peak at Top-25. I think Northwestern's still on the up despite an injury-riddled nightmare of a season, and I don't know what to make of Nebraska since they're probably going to fire their coach. Illinois and Purdue are doormats for the time being.</p>
<p>Feelingsball East: Well once Penn State is allowed to recruit they will be better, which means Michigan has two years to either catch up to Ohio State or find themselves in a solid second tier. MSU will lose a lot of the talent on defense that made them so competitive this year; there's still a few redshirted rows of teeth behind them. Maryland and Rutgers are two more teams who recruit better than they play, which is basically the M.O. of everyone in Michigan's division except MSU.<br />
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<td><font size="2" face="Calibri">Toussaint career rushing against Minnesota: 41 carries, 265 yards (6.2 YPC), and 4 TDs.</font></td>
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</p>
<p>The rest of the field, as expressed as their teams' average GPAs:</p>
<table class="tableizer-table">
<tbody>
<tr class="tableizer-firstrow">
<th>Conf</th>
<th>FEI 2013</th>
<th>247 3-yr</th>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>SEC</td>
<td>2.7</td>
<td>3.7</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Pac12</td>
<td>2.8</td>
<td>2.8</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>BigXII</td>
<td>2.3</td>
<td>2.5</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><strong>B1G</strong></td>
<td><strong>2.0</strong></td>
<td><strong>2.5</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>ACC</td>
<td>2.0</td>
<td>2.4</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Other</td>
<td>0.8</td>
<td>0.4</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>MAC</td>
<td>0.7</td>
<td>0.1</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Ultimately I think the SEC's wow factor (top-rated recruits, national championship string) has them overrated. They're really about on par with the Pac, which doesn't change that fact that the Big Ten is nowhere near either of them.</p>
<p align="center">------------------------------------</p>
<p><em>[Site goes down. Site comes back up with the pos and negs&#160; back. We spend 38 hours pos- and neg-banging. And then…]</em></p>
<p><strong>Brian: </strong>I do not care about the Big Ten's reputation one whit except insofar as it prevents Michigan from making CoFoPoff, and Michigan first has to be not horrible to get there. That's a distant concern, and if Michigan does actually win the Big Ten that means they'll have beaten OSU and the championship game to close the year after playing a decent three-game nonconference schedule. That team doesn't get left out in many circumstances. Michigan will lose all ties to the SEC, but that ship sailed when Delany wrote his letter.<br />
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<td><font size="2" face="Calibri">Dear rest of NCAA: Due to our strong traditions we demand you take our conference srsly.</font></td>
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</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Big Ten's reputation isn't going to get any better now that they're adding a team that did in fact lose to UConn and can't seem to hire one damned coach, administrator, or athletic director who hasn't waterboarded not only their players but random passers-by who looked at 'em funny. AND something called Maryland, which may have beaten UConn but also lost to Wake Forest. Lost to Wake Forest 34-10. Michigan gets both of those schedule anchors every year, along with Indiana, but people are dumb and will look at ohhh shiny OSU win (hypothetical). </p>
<p>In the conference, the west is going to be a sack of cats that will cough up a nearly-random hairball into the championship game annually. You have to give Wisconsin the edge here, as they just weathered a coaching change without much difficulty and probably upgraded in the process. They've got a proven winner in adverse circumstances at HC, a redshirt/wait/destroy regime in place that apparently nothing can overturn, and a perpetual Chris Borland machine somewhere in Green Bay that we need to hijack. But they are always vulnerable because they don't have recruiting might and any or all of their competitors except Purdue could put a stick in their eye. Yes, even Illinois after Illinois fires Tim Beckman. </p>
<p>On Michigan's side of the ledger, they are the third banana at this instant, hoping that Hoke's recruiting and retention gets them to the point where they can be on par with... oh for pant's sake. Cruel fate, why do you mock me? Screw you guys, I'm going home. </p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/weeks-obsession-b1g-x#commentsBig Tenbig ten coaching hires are often dumbbig ten divisionsbig ten navel gazingthis week's obsessionThu, 12 Dec 2013 17:05:53 +0000Seth83809 at http://mgoblog.comDear Diary Isn't Up to Urban's Standardshttp://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-isnt-urbans-standards
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/photo.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="photo" border="0" alt="photo" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/photo_thumb.jpg" width="564" height="424" /></a></p>
<p align="left">Why yes there is a story behind this photo:</p>
<blockquote><p align="left">&quot;I took this picture at the pre-Super Bowl NFL Tailgate Party last week of my brother and Urban Meyer. My brother's hat was backwards but he twisted it around as I set up for the pic. Thought you might enjoy.&quot;</p>
<p align="right"><em>--Jared of </em><a href="www.SportsPowerWeekends.com" target="_blank"><em>Sports Power Weekends</em></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">As <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/hokepoints-big-ten-has-problem" target="_blank">you may have heard</a> on National Signing Day Urban Meyer inked a lot of five-stars (and poached as many three-stars from his conference rivals), then rounded on the rest of the B1G for not faring so well. <strong>MaizeNBlueInDC </strong><a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/2013-recruiting-analysis-did-b1g-really-do-so-poorly" target="_blank">took to the Scout rankings to confirm</a>, compiling the recruits by state to demonstrate how each conference was doing versus its footprint. He starts with a chart that seems to suggest the Big Ten recruited just like every other major conference except the SEC which I graph:</p>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Scoutrecruitingconfs_0.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Scoutrecruitingconfs" border="0" alt="Scoutrecruitingconfs" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/Scoutrecruitingconfs_thumb_0.jpg" width="564" height="351" /></a></p>
<p>The parts I faded are the top two teams from each conference <a href="http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&amp;p=9&amp;c=14&amp;yr=2013" target="_blank">according to Scout's team rankings</a>, respectively Bama/Texas A&amp;M, UCLA/Wash(!), Mich/OSU, Okla/Texas, Clemson/FSU, and Rutgers/Cincy. That's what Urbz is whining about; he and we finished with the 1 and 2 teams to Scout, and the fourth Big Ten team doesn't appear until two spots above Kentucky. Course I'm not sure what Meyer expects to say at the coaches meeting except &quot;Stop being MAC coaches promoted to your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle" target="_blank">Peter Principle</a> limit.&quot; For QED purposes, a reminder of Big Ten coaching hires since 2007:</p>
<ul>
<li>2007: Saban/Tressel acolyte who turned Cincy into a BCS team, LSU's DC, Mack Brown's recruiting guy, Indiana's OC who coached Ball State before Hoke. </li>
<li>2008: WVU's head coach who invented the spread 'n shred </li>
<li>2009: Eastern Kentucky's head coach (hired in '08 under grooming plan) </li>
<li>2010: Bob Stoop's longtime OC</li>
<li>2011: SDSU's head coach, NIU's head coach </li>
<li>2012: Two-time national championship winner at Florida, Toledo's head coach (CBs under Tressel), a Belichick assistant </li>
<li>2013: Utah State's head coach, Kent State's head coach (WRs under Tressel) </li>
</ul>
<p>Recently the SEC has taken to hiring rising star high school coaches who spend a year at Arkansas State, but they've also pilfered Bielema and hired a string of successful coordinators and guys who turned mid-majors into Top 10 teams, and, you know, former national championship winners who tried the NFL because their NCAA dynasties were no longer challenging.</p>
<p>Returning to the Diary of the Week at hand, the rest of the charts use the state data to show things like the SEC has a third of the nation's talent while Big Ten states accounted for a sixth—every other conference is less than us. In the comments <strong>turd furguson</strong> <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/2013-recruiting-analysis-did-b1g-really-do-so-poorly#comment-1925589" target="_blank">charted where the schools line up</a> in ranking vs avg prospect rank to see if they're just hauling in more kids period. That also makes for easy graphing and general usefulness so:</p>
<p><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/scoutconfbyrank_0.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="scoutconfbyrank" border="0" alt="scoutconfbyrank" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/scoutconfbyrank_thumb_0.jpg" width="564" height="373" /></a></p>
<p>In other takes on meeting Meyer's standards, here's <strong>EGD </strong>with a list of Urban-approved, non-&quot;Don't be a Peters'd MAC coach&quot; <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/urban-meyer%E2%80%99s-top-11-recruiting-tips-fellow-b1g-coaches" target="_blank">tips for Big Ten coaches</a> heading out on the recruiting trail. </p>
<p><strong>Basketball, the What's Leftening:</strong> <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/remaining-mbb-games-path-30" target="_blank">Two of the three</a> remaining tough games for basketball were just played. Our Big Ten opponents all have <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/look-big-ten-remaining-schedules-2" target="_blank">enough rough stuff still to play</a> that everyone's expected to end up 14-4.</p>
<p><strong>Etc. </strong>A better-late-than-never wrap-up of <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/mgoblog-dc" target="_blank">things Brian said on the D.C. trip</a>—if you ask your local alumni chapter nicely (and you don't live in a crappy, unvisitable place like Dallas) you too can get a visit. The weekly <strong>LSAClassof2000 </strong>stats thing is a<strong>&#160;</strong><a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/they-came-play-geographic-survey-football-freshmen-1960-present" target="_blank">Geographic survey</a> of freshmen in the Bentley database that's mostly useless if you don't take out the walk-ons—I had a hell of a time with that same problem when I did the <a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/mgoupload/DearDiaryCarvesUpOhioPartII_F590/Coacheseach_3.jpg" target="_blank">historical team makeup from Ohio</a> (the yellow part) graph for 2011 HTTV. <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/role-attitude-basketball" target="_blank">Free throw attempts = EFFORT</a> (and refs but mostly EFFORT!) A made-up <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/kevin-johnson-story-behind-gif" target="_blank">backstory for rapture guy</a> (the guy who reached ecstasy in <a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8453863531_840088999c_o.gif" target="_blank">that one gif</a>); the real story will be on these pages soon courtesy of Ace. <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/primer-michigans-lacrosse-opponents" target="_blank">Lacrosse opponents</a> primer. <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/can-recruiting-rankings-predict-performance" target="_blank">Please give details</a>. Blockhams <a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/blockhams-spartan-tradition" target="_blank">was pretty funny</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Requested: </strong>A diary on Michigan's ski team, which is club but I'm told is pretty good this year and has Bob Thomas's son on it (and competes in a division called &quot;Michigan Men&quot;).</p>
<p><strong><em>[After the jump: the winner of last week's &quot;Find me a Game…Stauskus lookalike from the Fab Five&quot; contest, and some stuff from the board.]</em></strong></p>
<a name="more"></a><!--break--><!--break--><p><strong>GAME…CWEBB</strong></p>
<p align="left">In <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-just-fab-five" target="_blank">last week's edition</a> I asked the readers to find me a Fab Five version of Game…Blouses and I am impress. Rules: he's at least got to be hanging from the rim, and should preferably have a calm, &quot;You just lost to Prince&quot; look on his face. Contestants with my favorites on the top row:</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kb404.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="kb404" border="0" alt="kb404" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/kb404_thumb.jpg" width="180" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/webber-osu.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="webber-osu" border="0" alt="webber-osu" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/webber-osu_thumb.jpg" width="177" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roytarpley_display_image.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="roytarpley_display_image" border="0" alt="roytarpley_display_image" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/roytarpley_display_image_thumb.jpg" width="196" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/huarache-8.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="huarache-8" border="0" alt="huarache-8" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/huarache-8_thumb.jpg" width="155" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/webber-dunk.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="webber-dunk" border="0" alt="webber-dunk" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/webber-dunk_thumb.jpg" width="170" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/rtarpley_fs.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="rtarpley_fs" border="0" alt="rtarpley_fs" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/rtarpley_fs_thumb.jpg" width="164" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/T2eC16JsE9swmyUTBQP5D6BjOw60_35.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="$T2eC16J,!)sE9swm(yUTBQP5D6BjOw~~60_35" border="0" alt="$T2eC16J,!)sE9swm(yUTBQP5D6BjOw~~60_35" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/T2eC16JsE9swmyUTBQP5D6BjOw60_35_thumb.jpg" width="193" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/121711-AJC-basketball-Michigan-vs-Alabama-A-and-M-11_display.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="121711-AJC-basketball-Michigan-vs-Alabama-A-and-M-11_display" border="0" alt="121711-AJC-basketball-Michigan-vs-Alabama-A-and-M-11_display" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/121711-AJC-basketball-Michigan-vs-Alabama-A-and-M-11_display_thumb.jpg" width="164" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/bl010188.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="bl010188" border="0" alt="bl010188" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/bl010188_thumb.jpg" width="198" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/juwan.gif"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="juwan" border="0" alt="juwan" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/juwan_thumb.gif" width="238" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/imageahxx.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="imageahxx" border="0" alt="imageahxx" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/imageahxx_thumb.jpg" width="321" height="242" /></a></p>
<p align="left">I think the C-Webb vs Ohio State one (via Ryan Dunn over e-mail and <a href="http://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-just-fab-five#comment-1919958" target="_blank">Mish Mash in the comments</a>) is the clear victor (100 points to you sirs) but Jimmy King could be the thing Prince was copying, and Glen Rice soaring through a midnight sun is pageant-worthy.</p>
<h3 align="left">Best of the Board</h3>
<p align="left"><strong>CASTING CALL FOR MGOBLOG: THE MOVIE</strong></p>
<p align="left"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/IMG_0143.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="IMG_0143" border="0" alt="IMG_0143" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/IMG_0143_thumb.jpg" width="253" height="244" /></a><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jeffrey-ross-headshot.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="jeffrey-ross-headshot" border="0" alt="jeffrey-ross-headshot" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/jeffrey-ross-headshot_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="244" /></a></p>
<p align="left">Based on a true story, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-mgoblog-movie" target="_blank">MGoBlog the Movie</a> is a heartwarming tale of how an internet community banded together through the darkest years of their football program. When Lloyd Carr (played by Robert DeNiro) retires leaving only Mike DeBord as a potential heir, Michigan fans are sent on a hilarious romp through the ranks of college football coaches, three awful seasons of transition, and then yet another coaching search, discovering through it all that 2005 wasn't so bad afterall and that the most important thing is having each other and gifs. Starring Johnny Depp as Brian, Jon Cryer as Ace, Robin Williams as Rich Rodriguez, the kid from Goonies as Heiko, Kurt Russell as Les Miles, and all the way down at the bottom I'm either Seth Rogan or Jeff Ross.</p>
<p align="left"><strong>SOMETHING SURPRISING THIS WAY COMES</strong></p>
<p align="left">A freshman is about to get his room assignment and <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/big-michigan-football-surprise-open-thread" target="_blank">it's not the dorm you think</a>! (Or something—probably nothing but let's all speculate about <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/big-michigan-football-surprise" target="_blank">a nebulous surprise</a> from a high schooler's tweet).</p>
<p align="left"><strong>ETC. </strong>If you're ready to talk basketball after that, <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/days-later-state-michigan-basketballthoughts" target="_blank">go here</a>. I'm not there yet. Magnus wants to know your favorite team traditions (<a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-favorite-playing-traditions" target="_blank">for those playing the sport</a>)—needs cooler responses than &quot;we have dinner together&quot; and &quot;we wear ties to school on Friday.&quot; Ohio State has issued a press release for people <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/urban-meyers-fable-which-earl-bruce-gets-bit-buckeyes-turtle-fact-fable" target="_blank">who don't get the punchline of the Turtle Story</a>. In related news Seth of MGoBlog has issued an apology for anyone confused as to the veracity of the McDonalds story, concedes that there really isn't a point to &quot;Will Peach Pie Do?&quot; except to laugh at people who don't get it, and admits that the sound made when you sat down on the whoopie cushion was not actually you passing gas.</p>
<p><strong>Your Moment of Zen:</strong></p>
<p><iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zpl9c3pgwoM?list=PLJiVGeJ_KPz7n1vOm6cVTQhOmzyxGMw4V" frameborder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>HT <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/denard-robinson-ea-sports-ncaa-football-14-commercial" target="_blank">Michigan248</a>. Now go vote for Denard!</p>
http://mgoblog.com/content/dear-diary-isnt-urbans-standards#comments2013 recruitingbig ten coaching hires are often dumbbig ten navel gazingdear diaryurban meyerurban meyer is a lying liarpants who tells liesurban meyer sometimes tells the truthFri, 15 Feb 2013 15:35:24 +0000Seth76220 at http://mgoblog.comUnverified Voracity Needs To Replicate The Flyhttp://mgoblog.com/content/unverified-voracity-needs-replicate-fly
<p><strong>[NOTE: </strong>in transit to DC today <a href="http://dc.umclubs.com/index.php?page=evening-with-mgoblog-s-brian-cook-12-6-12" target="_blank">for Q&amp;A thing Thursday</a>, so light day from me.]</p>
<p><strong>We need some elephants with adamantium blades coming from their hands.</strong> This <a href="http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/the-enemy-of-my-enemy-is-still-notre-dame/" target="_blank">exists</a>:</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/UV_A645/A9Nt1kBCEAAno8K11.jpg"><img alt="A9Nt1kBCEAAno8K1[1]" border="0" height="355" rel="lightbox" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/images/UV_A645/A9Nt1kBCEAAno8K11_thumb.jpg" title="A9Nt1kBCEAAno8K1[1]" width="354" /></a></p>
<p align="left">The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and I need some lambchop-possessing awful cartoon unholy wolverine-elephant combinations stat.</p>
<p align="left"><strong>On your TV!</strong> Black and Blue, the Willis Ward documentary, will be on your television if you&#39;re in Detroit. <a href="http://thelivingstonpost.com/emmy-nominated-documentary-black-and-blue-to-air-on-detroits-wxyz-tv-on-dec-8/" target="_blank">Channel 7, 1 PM, Saturday</a>. Yes, this is unfortunately timed with the Arkansas basketball game overlapping. Set your DVRs.</p>
<p><strong>Where many coaches just show up from the MAC</strong>. The Big Ten has pants and pants of money. Leg-sleeves stuffed with cash. <a href="http://www.hammerandrails.com/2012/12/3/3724646/purdue-football-coaching-search-butch-jones-colorado-rumors-signing" target="_blank">And</a>&hellip;</p>
<blockquote><h3>
Purdue Football Coaching Search: Butch Jones Leaning Towards Colorado</h3>
</blockquote>
<p>&hellip;that about says it all. I know that Purdue is maybe not the best example but the current Big Ten coaches are:</p>
<p><strong>MAC OR MAC-ISH HEAD COACHES: </strong>Beckman, Kill, Hoke<br />
<strong>NOT EVEN MAC:</strong> Hope (fired)<br />
<strong>BIG EAST HEAD COACHES: </strong>Dantonio<br />
<strong>COORDINATORS:</strong> Wilson, Bielema, O&#39;Brien, Pelini<br />
<strong>POSITION COACH</strong>: Fitzgerald (thrust into the job early by tragedy), Ferentz<br />
<strong>URBAN MEYER:</strong> Urban Meyer</p>
<p>People, stop hiring MAC coaches who get hot for a couple seasons. Anyone can get good in the MAC (except Eastern why do you have football Eastern), and the MACtion nature of the league means that whoever is good is good because of chaos. Hoke at least had a couple years of turnaround at SDSU to his credit.</p>
<p>Also, there is one coach in the league who came in with BCS-level bonafides, Meyer, and he had extenuating circumstances that removed him from his previous job. This year is not a great example because I can&#39;t think of anyone who leaps off the page as an excellent coach Purdue should try to poach, but in the past five to ten years no midlevel Big Ten school has even approached a decent hire. I mean, yeah <a href="http://www.jumboheroes.com/?p=3132" target="_blank">what about Sonny Dykes</a>:&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Sonny Dykes- Where art thou?</strong></p>
<p>Sonny Dykes, my number one choice, seems to be staying pretty quiet during this whole process.&nbsp; I haven&rsquo;t heard his name mentioned for Tennessee or Arksans or even NC State despite early murmurs those were his preferences.&nbsp; His team <a href="http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8703346/louisiana-tech-bulldogs-9-3-go-bowl-game">turned down a bowl game</a> because they were hoping for a better offer.&nbsp; If that&rsquo;s any indication of how Dykes negotiates someone may get a bargain of a coach. <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/cal-bears/ci_22117905/sonny-dykes-remains-atop-cal-coaching-hire-talk">Cal</a> seems to be the front runner for him at this point but with the coaching carousel you never know. I&rsquo;d still like to see Burke take a shot at him and use the extra money for a hot shot defensive coordinator.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is Cal going to outspend a Big Ten team for Dykes? Adding Rutgers and Maryland will change that. Sure.</p>
<p>Next up for Purdue: <a href="http://www.hammerandrails.com/2012/12/4/3726594/purdue-football-coaching-search-butch-jones-says-no-to-purdue" target="_blank">maybe Darrell Hazell</a> because Hazell has one year in which his team came out on top of MACtion and two as a head coach. Conference, I roll my eyes at you.</p>
<p><strong>Burnin&#39; the shirt, burnin&#39; the shirt</strong>. Well so much for Caris Levert the redshirting guy. Michigan put him out there against Bradley and will continue playing him. This means bad news for Matt Vogrich, who went from a starting, if minor, role to a few minutes late:</p>
<blockquote><p>&quot;(The plan is to play him) six to eight or six to 10 (minutes per game),&quot; Beilein said Monday. &quot;I don&#39;t know if that&#39;s always going to happen, it depends on what&#39;s going on late in the game.</p>
<p>&quot;That was our intention, that&#39;s why we made the move to put him in the top eight -- we&#39;re still going to stay with a top eight or nine (guys in a rotation), and he&#39;s in there.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With Albrecht and McGary definitely part of that rotation, Levert&#39;s addition just about kicks Vogrich out of meaningful PT.</p>
<p>How do we feel about this? Vogrich was off to a poor start this season, but he has been able to provide sporadic gritty grit off the bench in past years and knows how to work a back-door cut. I&#39;m less incensed about burning redshirts in basketball, where the really good players don&#39;t stick around four years, let alone five, and anyone on the floor is contributing in a way Sione Houma wasn&#39;t when he covered kickoffs that were going into the endzone anyway.</p>
<p>If Levert is worth a couple points a game, I&#39;d say go for it. We haven&#39;t seen much to indicate that he is yet, but the buzz has been consistent. If they can really use him as a &quot;<a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/michigan_burns_caris_leverts_r.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">defensive stopper</a>,&quot; I&#39;ll be surprised but that&#39;s what Beilein says and Beilein draws a lot of water in this town.</p>
<p><strong>Everyone was injured and now it can be told</strong>. Taylor Lewan&#39;s shoulder <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/taylor_lewan_not_limited_by_sh.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">you didn&#39;t know was hurt is fine now</a>, which hurrah because Clowney. Gardner&#39;s <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/qb_devin_gardner_battling_ankl.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29" target="_blank">ankle you didn&#39;t know was hurt</a> will be fine by the time bowl practice starts. Denard&#39;s elbow you knew was injured <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121203/SPORTS0201/212030427/1131/rss17" target="_blank">is still coming along</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Robinson was asked Monday if he&#39;s been throwing at all.</p>
<p>&quot;I&#39;m not throwing how I want to throw,&quot; he said. &quot;I&#39;ll get there eventually.&quot;</p>
<p>He didn&#39;t indicate what has kept him from throwing the way he&#39;d like.</p>
<p>&quot;I don&#39;t know right now,&quot; he said. &quot;Got to keep going, keep trying and keep getting treatment.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nate Brink <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/dl_nathan_brinks_michigan_care.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">is not returning</a> and this is apparently still news despite the fact that he walked on senior day. Stood, really, but you know what I mean.</p>
<p><strong>HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA</strong> <a href="http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8703912/jay-bilas-chad-ford-which-nation-most-talented-team" target="_blank">lolerbee</a>($)</p>
<blockquote><h5>
The discussion: Which team is the nation&#39;s most talented?</h5>
<p><strong>Ford</strong>: &hellip;the team that may have the most talent in the country, in my book, is Michigan. The Wolverines currently have five players ranked in our Top 100. Kentucky is the only other team to have as many Top 100 players.</p>
<p>Right now, point guard <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56670/trey-burke">Trey Burke</a> is the only Michigan player ranked in our top 30, but <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61806/glenn-robinson-iii">Glenn Robinson III</a> and <a href="http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/51270/tim-hardaway-jr.">Tim Hardaway Jr.</a> both have the ability to crack the first round of the NBA draft. Freshmen <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61808/mitch-mcgary">Mitch McGary</a> and <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/61809/nik-stauskas">Nik Stauskas</a> are further down the list, but both have a real shot at getting drafted down the road.</p>
<p>That&#39;s in part why I believe Michigan is a Final Four team and may give Indiana a run for the No. 1 spot by the end of the season.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>/spins in chair whistling strangely</p>
<p><strong>Adopt-a-Bundesliga</strong>. I mentioned this on the podcast a few weeks ago and I am still kicking the idea around: I kind of want to adopt a Bundesliga team, because <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2012/dec/02/ermany-bundesliga-noisy-fans?CMP=twt_gu" target="_blank">the Bundesliga is a place where people think like this</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Among Germany&#39;s well-organised supporter groups is Kein Zwanni (Not Twenty), a campaign to keep tickets cheap. Its spokesman, Dortmund fan Marc Quambusch, said: &quot;You have to keep tickets affordable so poorer and young people can have the experience of being football supporters. German football has a special relationship with supporters because we are the owners of the clubs; people do feel that very emotional sense of belonging and the clubs do listen to the fans. I feel we need to really value what we have.&quot;</p>
<p>Watzke is a confirmed adherent to the Bundesliga rule that its clubs, with the historic exceptions of Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg and more recently Hoffenheim, must be controlled &quot;50% plus one&quot; by their members. The other 33 of the 36 clubs, including Bayern Munich, which is 82% owned by its member-supporters, cannot be bought by a single person from outside, like the Premier League clubs, but instead are democratically answerable to their members.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An indication of an &quot;emotional sense of belonging&quot; is what the Big Ten&#39;s leadership got from fans once they announced they&#39;d be adding Maryland and Rutgers, and is what they are busy throwing away right now in pursuit of ever-greater dollars without bothering to ask first. Ask <em>anyone</em>. They just did it.</p>
<p>That article is on Dortmund*. Dortmund fell in to debt and is coming off consecutive league championships by digging out and buying young players and building something. The entire league is organized like the Packers with exceptions grandfathered in; meanwhile the Packers setup is banned by the NFL with Green Bay grandfathered in. One gives you Dan Snyder. The other does not.</p>
<p>*[Dortmund pros: successful, opportunity to root against Jermaine Jones. Yellow overlaps with Michigan somewhat. Cons: somewhat of a carpetbagging thing to root for defending league champion, their yellow seems a little off. ]</p>
<p><strong>Meanwhile your business models are unsustainable</strong>. Fact: <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-1202-ct-sports-cost-20121202,0,5996855,full.story" target="_blank">if you do not like sports</a> cable is a huge ripoff. Via <a href="http://blutarsky.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/why-cant-i-just-pick-and-choose-which-channels-i-want/" target="_blank">Get The Picture</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>The average household already spends about $90 a month for cable or satellite TV, and <strong>nearly half of that amount pays for the sports channels packaged into most services</strong>. <em>[Emphasis added.]&nbsp; </em>Massive deals for marquee sports franchises like the Dodgers and Lakers are driving those costs even higher. Over the next three years, monthly cable and satellite bills are expected to rise an average of nearly 40%, to $125, according to the market research company NPD Group.</p>
<p>So far, people seem willing to pay. But the escalating costs are triggering worries that, at some point, consumers will begin ditching their cable and satellite subscriptions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got runaway sports rights, runaway sports salaries and what is essentially a high tax on a lot of households that don&rsquo;t have a lot of interest in sports,&rdquo; said John Malone, the cable industry pioneer and chairman of Liberty Media. &ldquo;The consumer is really getting squeezed, as is the cable operator.&rdquo;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That is an unsustainable model that will erode. The Big Ten has hitched its entire wagon to that instead of things without an immediate return like, oh I don&#39;t know, an emotional sense of belonging. They are following the lead of newspapers, most of whom have abandoned any long-term strategy for slowly milking what profits can be made&mdash;except newspapers did not have a choice.</p>
<p>At this point I just don&#39;t care about the Big Ten expanding. I had my rage, and now I don&#39;t care what happens. That&#39;s where I am, and that&#39;s dangerous for the pointy-haired bosses. I&#39;ll watch, I&#39;m committed to that, but there&#39;s a continuum here.</p>
<p>Here is <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/12/sports-tax-everyone-pays" target="_blank">a libertarian-flavored argument from Mother Jones&#39;s Kevin Drum</a> about this whole business that GTP linked and I agree with, no polo.</p>
<p><strong>No link just a thing I am thinking</strong>. The best example of the milking behavior is the Big Ten ruining things by making more of them. The two examples I&#39;m thinking of:</p>
<ul>
<li>
Splitting Michigan and Ohio State in the hopes of getting a rematch the next week.</li>
<li>
Cramming four Big Ten bowls onto New Year&#39;s Day, cheapening the accomplishment.</li>
</ul>
<p>Instead of NYD being a litmus test for a&nbsp; good season it is now highly likely 8 and 7 win teams get there annually, and then who cares.</p>
<p>Yes, I am thinking about living under a highway overpass. Let&#39;s think about something happier.</p>
<p><strong>STAUSKAS. </strong>Stauskas.</p>
<p><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_PAYaJB6Pe8?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></p>
<p>Also <a href="http://www.umhoops.com/2012/12/02/five-key-plays-michigan-at-bradley/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UMHoops+%28UM+Hoops.com%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">other key plays</a>. I love how on the last one you can hear the entire arena moan disgustedly before Stauskas even gets the ball. They know it&#39;s going in.</p>
<p><strong>Etc.:</strong> Nebrasketball <a href="http://www.cornnation.com/2012/12/4/3725674/huskers-ride-gallegos-20-to-topple-usc" target="_blank">beats USC</a> to give the Big Ten a little bit of a schedule bump. I watched the first 15 minutes or so and came away amazed at how bad the Trojans were. They have a guy with above-average usage (<a href="http://kenpom.com/player.php?p=7592" target="_blank">Jio Fontan</a>) shooting 24% from 2!</p>
<p>Hagerup <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/comeback_kid_will_hagerup_rebo.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">profiled</a>. Baumgardner <a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/no_3_michigan_faces_first_rauc.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">on the Bradley game</a>, which I was fine with them playing. I&#39;d rather have Michigan go to MVC schools for RPI and competitive purposes than beat up on the SWAC. Beard <a href="http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121202/OPINION03/212020327/1131/rss17" target="_blank">on the freshmen</a>. MGoUser club_med looks at overtime games and eventually concludes that how you get to overtime&mdash;by blowing a lead or coming back&mdash;<a href="http://mgoblog.com/diaries/stopping-momentum-part-ii" target="_blank">does not affect your chance of winning</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2012/12/michigan_hoping_to_fix_late-ga.html?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">Late fades after being up big</a> are the best problem to have but I would prefer it if they were fixed.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/unverified-voracity-needs-replicate-fly#commentsadopt-a-bundesligaauburnbeileinbig ten coaching hires are often dumbbig ten expansionblack and bluecaris levertinjuriesjohn beilein says there's gold in them thar hillsmoney money moneynik stauskasnotre dameunverified voracityalabamaTue, 04 Dec 2012 19:06:19 +0000Brian74403 at http://mgoblog.comUnverified Voracity Tweaks Bohttp://mgoblog.com/content/unverified-voracity-tweaks-bo
<p><strong>Site note!</strong> OH MY GOD UFR UFR UFR OSU OSU OSU. Yeah, happening. I am going to take it a bit slower because, like, I can. Half this week, half next week. </p>
<p>The season's end usually means a slowdown in December since football is over, basketball is often wading through thickets of uninspiring nonconference opponents, and hockey is off for big chunks (this year they're also super depressing!). Also, the batteries. They need recharging. </p>
<p><strong>Bid.</strong> The big prize in the School of Kinesiology's auction <a href="http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=140094902" target="_blank">goes off the board</a> in just over a day:</p>
<p align="center"><a href="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/140094933_275_2751.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="140094933.275.275[1]" border="0" alt="140094933.275.275[1]" src="http://mgoblog.com/sites/mgoblog.com/files/140094933_275_2751_thumb.jpg" width="210" height="279" /></a></p>
<p align="left">That is signed by:</p>
<blockquote><p align="left">Anthony Carter (Signed on the #1), Charles Woodson, Jake Long, Chad Henne, Elvis Grbac, Zoltan Mesko, Anthony &quot;A-Train&quot; Thomas, Larry Foote, Brandon Graham, Jamie Morris, Rick Leach, Jarrett Irons, Jim Brandstatter, Adrian Arrington, Reggie McKenzie, James Hall, Bob Chappuis, Vada Murray, Morgan Trent, Tim Jamison, Will Johnson, Butch Woolfolk, John Wangler, Bennie Joppru,Stevie Brown, Chris Floyd, Glen Steele, Mark Campbell, Clint Copenhaver, Aaron Shea, Scott Dresibach, Jarrod Bunch, Victor Hobson, Mark Messner, Stan Edwards, Derek Walker, Greg McMurtry, Billy Taylor, Harlan Huckleby, Don Dufek Sr., Don Dufek Jr., Bill Dufek, Ron Simpkins, Phil Brabbs, Chuck Winters, Andre Weathers, Jim Betts, Carl Diggs, Eric Mayes, Rondell Biggs, Greg Mathews, Doug Skene, David Moosman, Ron Bellamy and Adam Kraus.</p>
</blockquote>
<p align="left">Zoltan, yo. You will have to be a big baller to pick it up, but most of the emails I get come from law firms, so… yeah. </p>
<p><strong>Hayden Fry on Bo.</strong> This is pretty much awesome:</p>
<p align="center">
<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MZOfri_agfI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;start=398" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MZOfri_agfI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0&amp;start=398" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>Michigan's long-running semi-rivalry with Iowa has always seemed to me like the most mutually respectful one M has, what with Bump and Fry and Carr pulling for Ferentz and whatnot. It's good to have them in the division. </p>
<p><strong>Sacrifice Virginia.</strong> Basketball <a href="http://www.umhoops.com/2011/11/29/game-7-michigan-at-virginia-preview/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UMHoops+%28UM+Hoops.com%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">hits the court again tonight</a> (7PM, ESPN2) in their second consecutive road game in the Big Ten-ACC challenge. They've got Virginia. If you're thinking that sounds like a pushover, no, not so much. Kenpom has the 5-1 Cavaliers 37th and gives them a decent edge (61%) on their home court. Michigan probably has a better chance than wobbly early-season numbers suggest since they're still heavily counting Michigan's pre-Maui struggles. </p>
<p>While Michigan's playing its first true road game of the season, Virginia hasn't played a major conference team yet. They've annihilated a couple of bad teams, lost a squeaker to TCU, and cruised by Drexel, Drake, and Wisconsin-Green Bay. Defense is their calling card—they're currently 8th. </p>
<p>Sensing that attention would start turning to the hoopycagers, <a href="http://umhoops.com" target="_blank">UMHoops</a> dumped a bunch of stuff out yesterday, including a <a href="http://www.umhoops.com/2011/11/28/maui-invitational-what-we-learned/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UMHoops+%28UM+Hoops.com%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">Maui Invitational recap</a>…</p>
<blockquote><h4>The Freshman Point Guard is Just Fine</h4>
<p>Trey Burke hasn’t been perfect. He’s turned the ball over on 21% of his possessions, is shooting 60% on free throws, made one of eight threes in Maui and has the tendency to commit silly fouls. Despite those freshman mistakes, Burke has proven that he’s ready to play at this level. His quickness, playmaking ability and competitiveness have already proven vastly important through Michigan’s first six games.</p>
<p>Burke handed out more assists during the Maui Invitational than any player from any of the eight participating schools. He averaged 35 minutes per game in Maui, tied for the U-M lead, which serves as a ringing endorsement of John Beilein’s trust. The turnovers will decrease and he will find his three point shooting stroke (1-8 3pt in Maui) because he’s just too talented of a shooter not to. Burke is also the sort of player that can get a basket out of nothing – give him the ball in an isolation when the offense is struggling and he’ll make something happen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>…and a look at Michigan's <a href="http://www.umhoops.com/2011/11/28/michigan-and-the-nba-draft-2012-edition/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UMHoops+%28UM+Hoops.com%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">diverse NBA prospects</a>. From that post, here's the <em>Daily</em> hitting up Chad Ford to <a href="http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/espn%E2%80%99s-ford-talks-future-nba-prospects-hardaway-jr" target="_blank">talk Hardaway</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>“He’s got good size for his position, he’s athletic, he can shoot the basketball, and he can put the ball on the floor, get to the basket,” Ford said. “He’s got a lot of the tools that you sort of look for in a wing. If he was a better ball-handler — and it’s ironic, because his dad was amazing — that’s probably his biggest weakness. I think he (also) needs to get a little more consistent from 3-point range. “But I think he’s a pro.”</p>
<p>“He won’t need the money, and a lot of times that’s a big issue for players,” Ford said. “He’s got his dad, (so) he’s going to have access to more NBA guys giving him their opinions, which means he probably won’t get bad info. I probably say he stays, but I’m always surprised.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ford's plugging him in the same range Darius Morris was projected in as last season developed. As he mentions, money's not an issue, and this time around the NBA lockout helps. Last year the lockout pushed a marginal first-rounder like Morris into this years draft because a lot of blue-chips sat it out; this year those blue-chips will flood into the draft and push the Morris-Hardaway range back to school. I guess Burke fits in that range now, too. (Rivals basketball recruiting: you suck.) Sounds like Mitch McGary had a tough tournament over the last week, one that seems the draft consensus on him also in that fringe first-round range. </p>
<p>I'm still getting a handle on this edition of Michigan basketball, but it seems to me like Hardaway's increased ability to get his shot inside the arc is the non-Burke key. Memphis and Duke tried to shut off Michigan's threes only to get beat up on those overplays. Dylan notes Michigan's red-hot two-point shooting in Maui; Hardaway led the way at 27 of 44—a better than 60% clip. </p>
<p>Hardaway seems to have added a mid-range pull-up game that will be unstoppable since he's a 6'6&quot; leaper. Just has to hit those shots. I expect the team's three-point shooting will come around to where it was last year. At this point Vogrich/Douglass/Novak is established as a floppy-haired Cerberus that will shoot between 36 and 38 percent collectively. Hardaway and Burke are the wildcards there. Is Hardaway the elite guy from the Big Ten season or also in that okay-to-good range? And how good of a shooter is Burke? </p>
<p><strong>BONUS:</strong> Drexel's head coach is named &quot;Bruiser Flint.&quot; <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruiser_Flint" target="_blank">Serious</a>.</p>
<p><strong>This is going to go well.</strong> They put Big Ten offensive lineman of the year David Molk in front of a camera and Tim Doyle asked him goofy questions.</p>
<p><object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sqVp6yO5mkI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sqVp6yO5mkI?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p align="center"><em>Call me butterfly. I dare you.</em></p>
<p>Barely concealed contempt FTW.</p>
<p><strong>Obligatory section on Meyer</strong>. He'll be some level of good. It's vastly more important for Michigan to have its house in order, which they seem to. Insert your preferred baseless assumption about Meyer's flakiness/health issues/lack of recruiting acumen here to make you feel better. At least we <a href="http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2011/11/tuesday-skull-session-2?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ElevenWarriors+%28Eleven+Warriors%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">won't be one-upped in this department</a>: </p>
<blockquote><p>Rittenberg writes that if there's anyone who knows Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison's system, it's Meyer. The two worked along side one another when Meyer was the head coach of Florida.</p>
<p>If Mattison stays at Michigan, perhaps Meyer could give the Buckeyes the advantage come next season, as OSU tries to avenge their first loss to UM in eight years.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>PROTIP: if your assertion can be flipped 180 degrees and retain equal plausibility, find another assertion. </p>
<p>The one thing hiring Meyer does do is make OSU fans' assertions that they really gave themselves a tough punishment by firing/retiring Jim Tressel even more obviously crap than when they were originally peddled. The NCAA's reaction to a head coach lying to keep his most important players eligible, then lying again to get them eligible for a bowl game, is going to be pathetically weak even with the tattoos and cars and &quot;charity&quot; events on top of everything. </p>
<p>Countdown to resumption of normal activities in 3… 2… 1…</p>
<p><strong>The neck, it sticks out.</strong> This year's most interesting recruit ranking kerfuffle is located in the general vicinity of Toledo, where Chris Wormley is the <a href="http://m2.toledoblade.com/HighSchool/2011/11/29/Whitmer-lands-4-on-All-Ohio-D-I-first-team.html" target="_blank">Ohio Division 1 defensive player of the year</a> over Se'Von Pittman, Tom Strobel, Joe Bolden, and De'Van Bogard. Those four are all top 100 types. Wormley had M and OSU offers on top of that but still sees this massive rankings spread:</p>
<ul>
<li>247: #59 overall, #3 SDE, #3 OH </li>
<li>ESPN: 4*, #16 DE, #7 OH </li>
<li>Scout: 4*, #161 overall, #22 DE </li>
<li>Rivals: durf. 3*, #22 <em>strongside</em> defensive end (IE: approx #44 DE) </li>
</ul>
<p>That's a powerful outlier there. Hopefully it's wrong. </p>
<p><strong>Why the Big Ten is not so good, Part XXVII.</strong> The massive connections that come from a brief tenure at Cincinnati may <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-28/sports/ct-spt-1129-illinois-foot-coach--20111129_1_mark-dantonio-head-coach-northern-illinois" target="_blank">land Pat Narduzzi the Illinois job</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>As Illinois' search for Ron Zook's replacement begins, a source said the program is looking at candidates that include Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and Toledo head coach Tim Beckman.</p>
<p>Narduzzi's Big Ten affiliation and ties to Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas make him a likely target.</p>
<p>He served as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati from 2004-06, overlapping with Thomas' tenure with the Bearcats that began in 2005. He was reportedly a candidate for the Cincinnati job that eventually went to Brian Kelly, who now coaches at Notre Dame.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes, this would be another disappointing mid-level Big Ten hire with names like Mike Leach, Kevin Sumlin, and anyone who's proven they are actually in charge of the thing they're supposed to be in charge of out there. Narduzzi is a defensive coordinator working under a former DC. That always makes me leery because you don't know how much of the team's success in their chosen field is because of the guy you're hiring. </p>
<p>Beckman would probably be a better hire: he's turned around Toledo, has a ton of recruiting connections in Ohio, and did establish himself as a BCS level coordinator at Oklahoma State. Schiano is not realistic. He has security at Rutgers and Illinois is a death trap. </p>
<p>If Illinois does go with Narduzzi that is both of Dantonio's coordinators out the door in a two year period. Not sure how much Narduzzi would hurt for the reasons given above, but it certainly can't help. It would be strange if Dantonio had more of a coaching tree in year five at MSU than Carr did, like, ever. </p>
<p><strong>More Buckeye butthurt</strong>. Meinke collects the various <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/michigan-football-coach-brady-hoke-shurgs-off-ohio-states-criticism-regarding-grenade-celebration/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">lolrus OSU player twitter posts</a> after the game. You've read the Boren ones; the others: </p>
<blockquote><p>Added Ohio State tight end <strong>Jeff Heuerman</strong>: &quot;Karma is gonna be a (expletive) for that little 'celebration' at the end.&quot;</p>
<p>Players said the controversial celebration -- you can catch a piece of it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_ebG7UHY4">at the 34-minute mark of this YouTube video</a> -- is something they have done after each Friday practice this year. Coach <strong>Brady Hoke</strong> said he was fine with his team celebrating their win that way.</p>
<p>&quot;I don’t have any problem (with it) because it wasn’t disrespectful to anybody,&quot; Hoke said. &quot;It’s something they do every Friday. </p>
<p>&quot;No. It wasn’t disrespectful to anybody. It’s something those kids have done for 12 weeks.”</p>
<p>Ohio State, though, clearly was offended with the episode, which occurred in front of several players at midfield.</p>
<p>It led to Ohio State cornerback Brad Roby tweeting: &quot;I will never lose to those scrubs again.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>: (</p>
<p><strong>Etc.: </strong><a href="http://houserockbuilt.blogspot.com/2011/11/after-rough-first-half-against-stanford.html" target="_blank">Stuffing the Passer</a>. Michigan-ND is Pat Forde's <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=pf-forde_yard_dash_awards_112911" target="_blank">game of the year</a>. Dreaded Judgment <a href="http://dreadedjudgement.blogspot.com/2011/11/that-is-defining-their-legacy.html" target="_blank">OSU game column.</a> Dymonte Thomas <a href="http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/minor-dunn-update-just-talked-meyer" target="_blank">badgers Bri'onte Dunn</a> on the twitters. Dunn says he <a href="http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1299927" target="_blank">doesn't want to play in a spread</a>. (Shhh.) Kyle Kalis is <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/sports/um-football/prized-michigan-football-recruit-ex-osu-commit-kyle-kalis-not-swayed-by-urban-meyer/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WolverinesSports+%28Michigan+Wolverines+Sports%29&amp;utm_content=Google+Reader" target="_blank">solid</a>.</p>
<a name="more"></a>http://mgoblog.com/content/unverified-voracity-tweaks-bo#commentsbasketballbig ten coaching hires are often dumbchirs wormleydavid molkgive money to someone elseeeeeehayden fryillinoisiowalolbuckeyesmichigan statenba draftohio staterecruiting might not be so legit sometimestim hardaway jrtrey burkeunverified voracityurban meyervirginiaTue, 29 Nov 2011 17:30:51 +0000Brian63434 at http://mgoblog.com